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Disguising Top Bar Beehives

 
Sam Potter
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Im getting a couple of beehives, there top bars and the neghborhood is fine with them and its not aginst any city code. We live in a very urban area thou where passerbys and hooligans might not be as accepting. We are worried about possible vandalism  or insecticide attacks. Any ideas to make them less tempting? Without making the city raise an eyebrow?

Our idea has been to mark it as a composting bin so far

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Mike Barkley
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Is there any chance a passerby might try to add something to the "compost bins"? That might not end well.

Maybe some plants with sharp thorns would be a good deterrent.

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Stacy Witscher
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It sounds like you are planning on placing them in a front yard. I would be very wary of this. You are likely opening yourself up to all kinds of liability. While I wish it wasn't so, if someone gets stung you could get sued. When I lived in the SF Bay Area even parks were required to disclose known hives (wild). I wouldn't want to take the risk in an urban area, unless you could fence it in.

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There in the back yard but we have a alleyway and a smaller lot. A fence is in the works but there was a recent rash of people pushing over beehives.

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Arthur Angaran
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Hi, how about putting them in something like a locked shed or greenhouse with ventilation to allow bee access?
 
Mike Barkley
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Good point Stacy. The laws vary from state to state. In TN hives are required to be registered. Doing so removes the possibility of being sued. (among other things like minimizing AFB outbreaks)

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Pearl Sutton
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Can you put them up on a roof or other high surface?

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Michael Cox
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Arthur Angaran wrote:Hi, how about putting them in something like a locked shed or greenhouse with ventilation to allow bee access?



NOT a greenhouse. They need to be in tune with the outdoor temperature year round. You don't want a sunny day in mid winter warming them up so they try and fly, then die in the cold.
 
Michael Cox
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If you are asking this question then you need to consider a different location. Bees are sadly often a target for bad behaviour. Ideally they should be sited out of view, and well inside fence lines so that it requires some determined trespassing to get close.

They shouldn't be placed close to a fence line that members of the public my pass close to. In part to protect your bees from being tampered with, but also to protect passers-by from walking through a flight line. This is particularly important in urban areas, where your bees can quickly get a reputation for being a nuisance if misplaced.

You also need to consider what you will do when you have an aggressive colony - I estimate 1 in 20 of my colonies has had a tendency towards territorial/defensive behaviour. What is your backup plan if you need to move them off site for a few months to requeen them? CAN you move your hive?

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Anne Miller
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Maybe surround the hives with container plants, far enough away to allow air movement, etc though making the hives look less noticeable.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
Sam Potter
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I like the plants or the shed, Id worry about them getting to hot so possibly a threesided shed and some prickly tall flowers to make the 3rd wall. Id put them on the roof if it was easier to access.  My other half has suggested just putting up a camera. But i guess im looking for the fun out of the box solutions. We are in iowa so theres not much concern about getting sued if they are trespassing. All of the reasons not to put the bees here have been ironed out and planed for. This is the last hurdle to our negborhoods bees. Its not a high crime area and we have a close nit neighborhood. Its just to prevent them from becoming a target to hooligans and prevent it from scaring passerbyers.

No point in crying if you havnt been trying

 
Jay Angler
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I have read that if you have tall obstacles near the hive, this encourages the bees to fly up above human height, so that would help with the "flight path" issue.

The 3-sided shed idea sounds nice, as that would also keep the temperature from being too different from "inside" to "outside".  Prickly, useful shrubs sound good! Seaberry, gooseberry, even raspberry - the local bees *adore* my raspberry flowers, and in the fall, if they get desperate they'll drink from the late fruit. I'd look for season extending plants, also.

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elle sagenev
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If a fence is in the works and there is a risk of tip over I'd just wait for the fence before getting bees.

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Sam Potter
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So we set up the hives and it has been a few very uneventful months with no problems. I think I was worrying to much honestly lol We have had a city worker a couple of feet from the unpainted one none the wiser and folks pick veggies from the garden never knowing the hives are there. Here's some photos of our homemade pallet hives while I was cleaning up the garden after a hard frost
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IMG_20211026_163104449.jpg
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No point in crying if you havnt been trying

 
craig howard
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If I saw that I might not think it was a bee hive.
Kinda looks like water storage.
 
Anne Miller
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As far as making something look nice looking for the yard that looks really nice.

Looks like someplace to keep garden tools, hoses, etc.

Never would guess it is a bee habitat.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
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